bossdog421

2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

So sorry that your trip got canceled, @bossdog421. Understandable that you're taking a leave of absence, given the challenges around having to pre-plan time off from work. Hopefully things will get better and it will be a brief leave for you.

This more than anything is what has ticked me off the most about all of this. Royal knows a particular cruise won't be sailing, for whatever reason, but they wait until after final payment to make the call and lock in everyone's money for an interest-free loan. I know they're a business, I know they need cash on hand for stuff, but it is the worst customer experience they could possibly provide. Especially when they then say that any refunds will take up to 45 days to issue (and that after whatever final decision date for FCC or refund is given, itself at least a month out).

Yeah i understand why they do it in most cases but this one had tons of issues. I called customer service and emailed my rep multiple times with questions and kept getting assured there were no plans on canceling. It was worth the gamble otherwise i would have canceled but it still gets under my skin.

And it's gone...

The cruise was just officially canceled. So glad they waited 3 days after final payment was due to do it... This is the 3rd one canceled after final payment was due so not much of a surprise i guess.

I have to plan my time too much to keep this stuff up. Cruising just doesn't seem like a safe enough bet for my time until all this stuff is in the rear view. So i'll probably be taking a break from the boards again. I'll be back when there is more confidence in the industry!

Guess I'll focus on Land Cruising. (RVing has been my main covid vacationing) Mine is on the left.

6 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Yes, and that's a great sign.  There has been question if NJ will even open this year (and so could Anthem even return), but the fact that Oasis is scheduled, means that hurdle is gone.  

Once one hurdle is gone 3 more pop up unfortunately.  NJ has been on the stricter side of things through this pandemic and while the update today didn't mention cruises it did not feel like a step in the direction of cruising coming back. We've been seeing an uptick at our offices with testing again, and it seems from the data released today we aren't the only ones.

Maybe I'm just having a bad day or just have a case of the Mondays but I'm less optimistic than i was that there is even a chance now.

7 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Following along.  Really hope your cruise runs.  Perhaps its been pulled due to departure date being prior to Nov 1 and more than 8 days?  Is your cruise the first one back on New Jersey?  Perhaps they need to run test cruise first?  Hope it works out for you.  Halloween would be so fun on a ship!  We have Anthem booked for Dec (7 night).  Still debating whether to go or not.

It's Anthem's first cruise out of the port directly after getting back from a transatlantic. However, Oasis is scheduled to start sailing out of NJ in September.

I had one back in Feb last year.

There were spots i could touch the bottom and spots i couldn't. Even when i could touch the bottom it was not by much,  I'm 5'11. Guessing levels would play a pretty big roll in that. The cabana location would probably play a roll in that too, some are closer to shore.

33 minutes ago, AlmondFarmer said:

Do fangs work as a bottle opener? 

They probably would, but I'd rather not chance breaking or chipping it lol.

37 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

So fingers are crossed for you.  I know you will feel better once they announce a test cruise for Anthem.

 

Well seeing how this is the first sailing listed after it's back in the states from a transatlantic sailing I don't think Anthem will be getting one, at least not from the USA... unless this gets canceled and this time period is used for a test cruise.

Final payment is this week so why not start another blog? Hopefully this isn’t another live blog that ends in a cruise not happening…

This 8 night Bahamas cruise on Anthem was booked during my last cruise Jan 2020. Sometime in the middle of covid the listing for the cruise was pulled from Royal's site (probably because it was 8 days) and has not reappeared yet. Is it a Halloween mystery? Will it sail? Soo spooky!

Emailing back and forth with a rep from royal she claims there is no plans to cancel this sailing but the strangeness of this cruise just keeps coming.  I have been stalking the site to see if the sailing gets listed again because I wanted look at pricing to upgrade into a suite or star class. So I asked the rep I was emailing with, she says no rooms are available and sates they are probably max capacity. Well, that doesn’t make sense because the cruise hasn’t been listed, the sailing that goes out right one this one gets back has plenty of open rooms in every category. If this cruise does go out, it may be a ghost ship (gasp).

The itinerary:

Leaves from Cape Liberty, 2 Sea Days, Port Canaveral, CocoCay, Nassau, and then 2 more sea days.

This itinerary is nothing great, but it gives us a chance to spend a day with family in Florida and it gives us plenty of time on the ship (I prefer being on the ship over most ports anyways).

This would be our first “holiday” cruise, being able to get in a costume sounds like a blast. I even bought a sweet cane / wand that would go very well with a Voodoo costume.  I got Lucius Malfoys cane from Borgin and Burkes in Knocturn Alley at Universal Studios (Harry Potter stuff). It’s pretty heavy, looks a bit intimating and it wont fit in my luggage so i'd have to carry it on. I wonder if it would even be allowed on the ship. What do you guys think?

Going to keep this short for now, don’t want to type up a crapload just to have it cancel again. This will be my first time on Anthem, so if it sails expect lots of pics and daily updates.

5 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

You have a very hard decision to make !  One that I would not want to have to make myself.  Personally, I think the price of this Arctic cruise is unjustifiably high....and when you add in airfare it is now super duper high.  The only reason we are going is b/c we've been looking for an itin like this for a long time.  We are staying on for the next cruise, which will be the first CAN/NE cruise for Voyager.  That cost for cruise is ALSO very high.  We are doing a GS for the same reason that you mentioned...b/c of the suite perks.  When you're on a long cruise with lots of sea days, I think those perks are even more important than ever.  Personally, if it were me, I would probably do the local SC cruise and wait for another northern Europe cruise with hopes that the future ones would be a bit more reasonably priced.

I'm siding with this trip over the SC one for a few reasons. The time frame lines up pretty well with a time i can typically take off. Plus if my cruise this Halloween still sails the SC cruise next year would make my 3rd time to the same ports. How many times do you really want to go to Nassau?  I probably wouldn't even get off the ship

Most people love the tropics but i spent 30 years in Florida so it's not all that different. Iceland, Greenland and Norway though?  These are places I've always wanted to go but thought I wouldn't ever make it to.

We are going to discuss more this weekend and probably make a decision 1 way or another.

On 2/11/2021 at 9:40 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

[Please forget that I just said, 2 days ago, that I would not book any new cruises]

Just booked the 9-4-22 14 night Voyager out of Copenhagen repositioning to Boston.  So excited about going to Norway, Iceland and Greenland !  It's expensive but I was able to get a casino discount so that helped quite a bit.

I saw this the other day and i was floored by the itinerary. September seems like a perfect time to be in the area. I'll probably be on this cruise as well for my wife's birthday!

Just need to work out a couple details before we book.  Going to have to choose between this with the additional time off work, international flight and other additional expenses or a local Star class cruise i was already eye balling around the same time.  That star class cruise was coming in cheaper than a balcony room on this but I'm interested in a grand suite so i can get those suite perks. The price is adding up...

Seeing some conflicting info suite perks since the amp. Is there a definitive source for Voyager info? Guess there was only a few months of this ship even being around after it was amped before covid kicked in.

On 2/10/2021 at 10:36 AM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

No Star class on that one lol

5 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Hello...today is the first time I saw your blog (probably because you posted an update...thanks!!).  Nice way to celebrate 10 years married!  So, I read through the entire blog and love all the pictures and insights to your entire cruise and especially the floating cabana on CocoCay.  Looks like your entire cruise was a blast.  My question...did you and your group follow through with the scavenger hunt and if so...who won??  

 Happy belated 11th!!  

Glad you enjoyed the blog!

The scavenger hunt was one of those great ideas that we just didnt have time to do to it's fullest.  Let's just say everyone won because i didn't make anyone else throw in for the Floating Cabana lol.

Going to bump my old topic... why not? Not like anything new is happening...

So here we are, a year later than this cruise.

Right about now i would have been thinking about how great my 10 year anniversary was while wondering around an empty ship while everyone else is sleeping. (My 11th anniversary was great too but I'm not cruising )

It's pretty crazy thinking back. I remember starting to hear about the virus and thinking it was not big deal. Even crazier  we were docked next to Anthem at San Juan... That Anthem sailing was the exact sailing that got quarantined for possible exposure to the virus. 

Tomorrow i get my second dose of the Vaccine. Exactly 1 year away from having an chance exposure. I won't go into the chaos that it has been working in the medical field but it has been stressful to say the least. I do really hope that this year marks us making moves to get this virus behind us.

1 cruise canceled last year for my wife's 40th birthday (star class too /cry). Hopeful for my Halloween booking on Anthem this year! It's not showing as something you can book anymore though, so i'm sure that's not a good sign.

Hope everyone is staying safe and sane! Hope i see everyone cruising soon!

I signed up.

I've been around covid this entire time. I've been tested a couple dozen times. So being subject to testing isn't an issue for me.

I am extremely interested in participating in some of the drills. I want to see how they manage some of there bigger issues. I have a ton of procedures in place for my business but it could be extremely helpful to see it from a different perspective. Maybe i could learn something.

I would have no anxiety being on the first cruise out even if they weren't doing a volunteer cruise.  If my Sept sailing would have been a go I would have gone without a second thought.

Sadly, I had just fallen in love with cruising, it would have been my "new" vacation trend. I had since moved on to a "covid resistant" form of vacationing that required a sizable investment so I probably wont be cruising much anymore (RVing if anyone was interested) . I need scheduled breaks from work to stay sane and I just wasn't going to get that with cruising for the time being.

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Now I just need a Genie, oh wait, that's me, I'm the home Genie lol.  

I got me a genie already. It's my wife. *cheesy comment* because with her all of my dreams came true... *realistic comment* She definitely has to use some kind of magic to put up with my crap.

1 hour ago, SteveinSC said:

I hate you lost your cruise. Cant wait till we can all talk about actual, real, happening cruises, again.

As for the weight loss journey....dont feel bad. As long as it took and as easy as it was to gain weight, its equally hard to lose it.  Set backs are just part of it. Over the past 3 years, I started at 270, got down to 195, and have gone between 215 and 195 at different points based on how strict ive been in my routine. ROUTINE IS THE KEY. Since Covid19 struck, Ive gained 13 lbs. No gym + stuck at home with all the food (and increased alcohol intake) = weight gain.  Our office had a gym, and once this hit and i started working from home....gym went bye bye. I tried working out at home, but its just NOT THE SAME, and its discouraging. Good news is, I found out this week that ill never be going back to the office (working from home permanently) so im going to bite the bullet and join a gym near the house. Now that I know this is permanent I can establish a new ROUTINE. Im more than ready to get back to my old diet and exercise. YOU CAN DO IT....set backs happen. Dont give up.   

  

Yeah at my heaviest I was about 300, I got all the way back to 190 a couple years ago. I have been hovering between 220 and 230. I feel the best with myself under 210. I was 214 when I gave up 2 weeks ago. I'm 220 again.

Dieting is super hard when there is a ton of stress. Work is tough, virus screwing up everything, a line to my septic collapsed and flooded my basement (this started my diet failing, just fully fixed today)... I just wanted a break!

I was just joking about the Häagen-Dazs diet, I haven't been that horrible...I'll get back on track soon.

Going to pretend to cruise in my bathtub now.

4 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

So disappointed for you.  Why don't you think you will be able to find a qualifying L&S cruise ?

Well i already had another cruise scheduled In Oct 2021. I am unwilling to take more time off work within 2 months of an already scheduled absence. It would just create too much work and headaches.

As far as I can tell the L&S for this cruise would have to fall between Aug and Oct of 2021.  If I could move this to sometime between March - and June 2021 it would work. That is my hail mary move. If the TA can work some magic great. Pretty sure I'm just going to take the refund.

Well I tried to stay positive but Corona has taken this cruise.

I am extremely disappointed because i really needed this trip. I am trying a hail mary with the travel agent to lit and shift outside of the normal dates but i doubt that will happen. Once this refund is processed I will just spend it on a vacation that isn't a cruise.

Diet update: I changed from a strict low carb diet to the Haagen Dazs about 2 weeks ago and hid the scale in the basement. I have been too ashamed to post. lol

Here were a couple water falls in Walpack Township. Had to go out just before a big storm to get pics of them frozen. Can't find the pics Buttermilk falls and Silver Spray falls.I took a couple summers ago.

Only the fall pic is from the same area I posted before. The others are from other trails around here... except the snow one. That was in my back yard.

Final payment made.

Tips to go faster in a waterslide:

Try to have as little of your body actually touching the slide as possible. Cross your ankles, cross your arms, lift your butt completely off the slide with all your weight on the heels of your feet and your shoulders. Try to keep your legs, butt, back and head off the slide as much as possible. The less body touching the slide the faster you go.

That's how you get 3 plus spins around the toilet bowl... i mean champagne bowl... on the  Supercell slide.

EDIT: Since this is a topic about the Abyss. I want to add to NOT do this on the abyss. 

On 6/15/2020 at 8:41 AM, coneyraven said:

That shot of the skyline is insane.  Where is this?

I got another great pic last night of the skyline. I went on a fathers day ride on the quads with the guys.

2 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I will be interested to hear all about it so I really hope you sail. I thought our Sept 6th Oasis cruise might be one of the first out of NJ. 

I have heard rumors over the last week that NY/NJ cruises are finished for 2020 into 2021. This is from a TA source. Actually a TA CEO source. 

Would suck if they did but ill wait for the official announcement.

Some other vacation source will be glad to take my money im sure.

Just shy of my 9/20/20. If oasis still sails I'll be the first on her once things resume. 

Not going to cancel or shift. I'll test out new procedures for everyone.